Patricia's Problem
by KlarizaClaytonFan
Summary: Patricia has a problem, but she's too afraid to ask for help, as she thinks it will bring her tough girl status plummeting down, but when one English lesson goes terribly wron, and the Anubis House residents find out her secret, they want to do anything they can to help...
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Patricia Williamson. I go to a boarding school in Liverpool, England. I'm seen as the tough oth, and everyone knows not to mess with me. If they did, very bad things would happen to them. Because it's a boarding school, we stay in different houses. For some weird reason, they're all named after Egyptian Gods (only some of us know why). I live in Anubis House. Other people who live there are: Joy Mercer, my best friend who went missing last year, but luckily came back. She's obsessed with boys... no, scratch that, she's obsessed with FABIAN! But, you'll find out more about him later on.

Another person who lives in our house is Nina Martin. She's American, and really popular! She also dates Fabian, so Joy absolutely hates her! Next is Amber Millington. She's very pretty, and obsessed with her appearance. She makes scrapbooks for all the couples in the house, and is currently dating Alfie, but it will probably be over by the end of the week. Next is Mara Jaffery. She's basically a nerd, but she's also a great friend. She's currently dating Mick, but Mick cheated on Amber with her, but luckily they're all on good terms now.

Alfie Lewis. God, how am I supposed to describe him! He's so immature, and just acts like a 5 year old most of the time! He's best friends with Jerome, and believe me, when they're together, all havoc breaks loose! Then there's, obviously, Jerome Clarke. He's the world's greatest prankster (but don't tell him I said that, or we'll never hear the end of it!) His status is currently single, but everyone knows he has a huge crush on Mara, and Mick's going to Australia soon, so hopefully they'll get together. Oh no, I'm sounding more and more like Amber by the minute!

Then there's Mick. He's super dumb, and a sports freak. He can be quite aggressive when he wants to be, and believe me, he has issues! Then there's my gorgeous American boyfriend, Eddie Sweet, son of the principal at our school. He has that whole I'm-too-cool-to-care act, but I know he secretly tries to please his Dad.

There's one thing that no-one knows about, apart from my family. It's my weak point, and I don't want anyone finding out, as it will make me look dumb!

I have dyslexia.


	2. Chapter 2

I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Oh, she's making a complete fuss over nothing" but believe me, growing up with the tough girl reputation that I have, it makes you feel vulnerable when you can't do stuff. I mean, I'm always behind on school work, and I usually don't care, but I'm doing my GCSE's soon, and I can't afford to fail! No-one would understand if I told then, they'd probably treat me differently, and I don't want any sympathy from them!

"Patricia! Dinner's ready!" shouted Joy from the bottom of the stairs. "Coming!" I shouted back. I ran down the stairs two at a time. "Someone's a bit eager!" teased Joy. "I'm just hungry, that's all!" I replied. "So your excitement has nothing to do with Eddie?" I blushed a deep red. We walked into the dining room together and sat in our usual spots. "I'm totally dreading reading that passage from The Hunger Games next week in English." Moaned Jerome. Oh no! I completely forgot about it!

You see, in English at the moment we're learning how to combine literature and drama into one lesson. I was supposed to go and see our English teacher for extra help before we did the assignment, but she left for the French exchange trip yesterday! "Well, I'm very excited. I'm such a great actress I can cry right on the spot, so I'm going to read an emotional passage." Gloated Amber. "Well, not all of us are professional drama queens like you Ambs." Mick said in a fake American accent.

Everyone at the table burst out laughing, excluding Amber, of course. Once we had all finished eating, everyone went their separate ways. I was about to go upstairs and try reading my chosen passage when Eddie grabbed my arm. "Hey, Yacker, I was just wandering, d'you wanna go for a walk?" Eddie asked. "Since when did you become all mushy?" I replied. "Well, ever since I thought I wanted to spend some time with my beautiful girlfriend." Smirked Eddie "Well, if it will make you happy, then, sure!" I fired back in a sarcastic tone.

Well, if you had to choose between homework and spending time with your boyfriend, which would you choose? After we got back, I went to bed straight away, definitely trying to avoid working on that passage.


	3. Chapter 3

I can't believe a whole week has gone already! I think you already know what today is: the day we read out our passages. I tried looking at mine earlier on this morning, but everything just looks like fuzzy black ink! "Patricia. Patricia!" Moaned Mara. "What?" I asked "You've been ignoring me for the past 5 minutes! I said, should we head off to English?" She asked, sounding rather irritated. "Oh, yeah, sorry." I mumbled "You worried about reading the passage out in class?" She asked... well, she actually sort of stated it. I just nodded. "Don't worry, we all are." She said whilst trying to comfort me.

When I got to the lesson, Eddie was already sat in his seat, smiling up at me. I sat down, putting the I'm-having-a-great-day-so-far look on my face, which I had to practice a lot to get just right. "Good Morning class!" our English teacher shouted whilst walking proudly into the classroom. "Good Morning Sir!" we chorused back. "So, I hope you all have your passages ready. Now, who would like to read theirs first?" He asked, but I completely zoned out after that.

I was only shook out of my daydream when I was being nudged by Amber. When I asked her what her problem was, she nodded her head towards our teacher. "I said, Ms Williamson, you're next!" He stated. I proudly strolled to the front of the class, acting like I couldn't care less, and began to read. "I have a...Pro-sop-it...umm...pro...I...I..." I couldn't do it. It didn't help that I had tears in my eyes. I looked up at everyone who was staring at me, looking very confused. The tears were about to spill, and I couldn't take it any longer. I ran out of the classroom and into the girl's loo.

As soon as I locked the door of a cubicle, I heard Nina's voice. "Patricia...Patricia... are you in here?" She carried on with this for another 5 minutes until she finally noticed that there was only 1 cubicle door locked. "Hello? Is Patricia in there? If not, speak now!" She shouted, sounding very frustrated. Fine, well, if you're not coming out, I'm coming in!" She stated quite clearly. By this time I didn't care what anyone did. I soon saw her slim legs climbing into my cubicle.


	4. Chapter 4

"Patricia, what were you doing out there?" Nina asked me, looking concerned. "I don't know, everything just became too much." I whispered. "I don't understand, you've never had trouble in front of a crowd before." She spoke softly, like a Mother trying to soothe her crying baby, "Yeah, well that's because I wasn't reading anything then, was I!" I snapped. I felt bad about it, because Nina didn't know I was dyslexic! "What does reading have to do with any of this?" Nina asked, looking confused.

"Nina, there's something I've been hiding." I confessed. "I have dyslexia." Nina gasped. "See, I knew people would think I was stupid!" I shouted, the tears pouring down my face all over again. "Hey, hey! I don't think you're stupid, I'm just surprised!" She defended herself in a gentle voice. "Oh, right." I mumbled, embarrassed. "Well, why didn't you ever tell any of us?" Nina asked with genuine curiosity. "I didn't want you all to think I was stupid!" I told her.

"No-one will ever think you're stupid Patricia, would've treated you just the same." Nina told me. "Tell you what, how about we tell the rest of the house, and we can all try and help you!" Nina suggested excitedly. "OK, that sounds great!" I squealed. I really did sound like Amber! Nina helped me up, we hugged, and then walked back to English together. When we walked in, everyone stared at us with questioning look on their faces. We just sat back down, and acted like nothing had ever happened.


	5. Chapter 5

After class, Eddie walked with me back to the house. He knew I didn't like to talk about my feelings, so he didn't ask any questions about the incident. As we got back to the house, Nina was standing near the entrance. As soon as she saw me, she grabbed me and pulled me up to her room. "Nina, was that really necessary?" I shouted. "Yes, I was thinking that we should tell everyone about your problem as soon as everyone gets back from school. We don't have to worry about them being late, since I've texted everyone in the house saying there's a house meeting in the common room NOW." She explained to me all in a rush.

"Well, do we have to tell them so soon?" I asked hesitantly. "Yes, the sooner everyone knows, the longer we have to help you." "Well, I hate to burst your bubble Neens, but you can't cure dyslexia. I'm stuck with it for life I'm afraid." I argued. " Of course I know that, but that doesn't mean we can't help you improve!" She concluded. I knew then and there that there was no point in me arguing anymore, she had gotten her way.

Luckily, everyone in the house had plans, and refused to abandon them for a house meeting, which bought me extra time to panic about telling everyone my secret. I had no idea what they'd think; some of them might not be as kind and forgiving as Nina. The person I was most worried about was Eddie. After all our arguments, we had both agreed to no more secret. I was really scared he'd break up with me as soon as he found out.

All the while I was thinking this, Nina was babbling on about how insensitive people are. " Fabian has book club, Amber is shopping, Mick's at football practice, Jerome's visiting his Dad in prison, Alfie's holding Amber's bags, Joy's following Fabian around and Eddie's talking to his Dad about all of this Osirion business. I mean, all of this can wait or another day!" Nina concluded. "Well, you can't just expect them to drop everything just to come to a stupid house meeting!" I argued back.

"Well, at least they'll be back soon. They all said they'd be back at 5, and it's now 5:50." She said. So, until 5, we just sat there in silence, thinking about what to say in the next 10 minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

Soon enough we heard the racket of people arriving back to the house. Nina and I ran down the stairs and into the common room. "Right, well, we are all here for the house meeting." Nina said. "OK, well, does everyone remember what happened in English today?" Nina asked, everyone nodded, and I tried to look everywhere but at my house mates. "OK, well, Patricia has a reason for walking out, and for struggling to read her passage." Nina said whilst defending me.

"Will you please get on with it?" snapped Joy angrily. "Fine. Patricia has dyslexia." Nina shouted. Everyone just looked at me in shock. "Stop staring at me!" I shouted, my voice wavering. "We're not staring, we're just...shocked." explained Mick "Well, I guess you think I'm some idiot who can't do anything then." I mumbled, looking at the ground. "Of course we don't Trish. We're just surprised you didn't tell us!" said Joy. "Well, the reason we're having this meeting is because I want all of us to take it in turns to teach Patricia after school." Stated Nina. ""Wait, Nina, that's not fair. You can't just expect everyone to drop their plans to help me!" I said.

"Yes you can!" Mara sang. "You can totally count me in." Squealed Amber "I'd be happy to help!" stated Fabian ""Why not?" shouted Mick " Trish, you're my best friend, of course I'll help." Laughed Joy "Well, I guess I could be nice for a week." Mumbled Jerome "If Ambs is in, I'm in too!" shouted Alfie. This only left one person, the one who I wanted to help me the most: Eddie. "Eddie, are you in?" asked Nina tentatively. "No. If she didn't bother to tell me, then I don't want to help her!" shouted Eddie, before running to his room. "I'll go and speak to him." I whispered reluctantly.

As I came up to Eddie's door, I knocked quietly. "Come in!" he shouted. As I walked in, I saw him lying down on his bed. "Hey." I mumbled. "Hi." He said back, just as quietly. We sat there in an awkward silence for at least five minutes. "Why didn't you tel me?" he asked. "I was embarrassed." I choked out. Right now the tears were falling faster than ever. "Why?" he asked again in a softer voice. "Because I thought you'd break up with me, and think that I was stupid!" I defended. We sat there for a little longer. "Well, I wouldn't have. Anyway, we agreed no more secrets." He argued back.

"I know." I whispered, ashamed. "I'll help you though." He said, smiling now. "Really?" I squealed. Seriously, if I keep squealing I'm gonna end up saying things like "Oh My Anubis" and "Sibuna me!" Soon enough we walked out of his room and back into the common room. "So, is operation help Patricia a go?" asked Amber. "Yeah!" everyone shouted. I was so lucky to have such good friends.


	7. Chapter 7

"Alright Patricia, what does this word say?" asked Nina. "Um, pro-pos-to-dus?" I asked nervously. "No, it says preposterous." Nina told me angrily. It was a Saturday afternoon, and all the house mates were in the common room. "OK Patricia. What does this number say?" Fabian asked. "Um, six thousand and one?" I asked "No, it's six million and one." Fabian stated, clearly sounding annoyed. "Don't worry Patricia, you'll get the hang of it soon enough!" Amber cooed soothingly.

"Well, we've been at it for an hour now, and there's been no improvement, so we might as well give up now." I said, trying to cram it all into one word so I could leave as quickly as possible. "Patricia, you won't get better if you don't keep trying. How about we have a break and then get back to it later?" suggested Mick. "Yeah, I bet if you rest up now, you'll do even better later." Comforted Jerome. Wow. I never thought I'd see the day that Jerome, of all people, would try to e helpful!

So, we all went to do our own thing, and then four hours later, we all met up again in the common room. "Right Trixie, what does this word say?" asked Alfie "First of all, never call me Trixie, and second of all, mon-oo-must-al?" I replied angrily. "No, it says monumental." Stated Mara. "OK, how about we leave it for today and try again tomorrow?" suggested Joy. "Fine." I said, feeling very put out. "So, how you doing?" asked Eddie. "Not feeling too good. I'm never going to be able to read things properly!" I shouted. "Yes you are, it just requires a lot of practise!" argued Nina. "Would you mind not butting in for once?" I snapped.

"Hey, she's only trying to help!" defended Fabian. "Well, I don't need your help anymore; I can figure it out on my own!" I shouted. I regretted it as soon as I said it. I couldn't figure this out on my own, I needed help! "OK, I didn't mean that, I really do need your help." I said, ashamed that I had been so mean when they'd tried to help me. "It's OK, we forgive you." Amber said. "Thanks." I breathed out a big sigh of relief. "Now, we'll all have a rest, and carry on tomorrow." Mick stated. "Cool." We all said, and went our own ways.


	8. Chapter 8

"OK, well, obviously us helping you, isn't helping you at all." Nina stated. "No offence guys, but I agree." I agreed. "Well, I've found some local teachers, who are professional, and know the exact way to teach dyslexic people, so I've booked you one!" Fabian boasted, looking very proud of himself. "I can't believe you'd do that for me, thanks!" I babbled. I was the happiest person in the world. "So, you have an appointment this afternoon, so you can choose one of us to go with you, for moral support." Amber boasted, obviously hoping I'd pick her.

"OK, I pick Eddie!" I called, hoping he'd hear from the next room. "OK, that's settled then, I'll call the taxi." Mick crowed. "Cool, what do we do until it's arrived?" I asked, curious. "We could always try to get you prepared by trying one last time at teaching you?" Mara suggested. "Cool." I stated. So for the next half an hour we just went over some numbers and words, and soon enough the taxi arrived. "OK then, have fun!" Jerome followed us whilst babbling on about how great it would be. "Thanks." I frowned; wondering why he was being so nice.

So Eddie and I got in the taxi and soon enough arrived at the school. "Are you nervous?" asked Eddie. "A bit." I admitted. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." He babbled. "Thanks." I called as I walked in. "Hello, I'm Patricia Williamson and I have an appointment for two o'clock with Dr. Halper?" I asked the receptionist. "Of course, please go into the waiting room." She told me. As I walked in I noticed I was surrounded by girls and boys that were my age, which was very surprising. I though at soon as I got in there, all I could see would be small children.

"Patricia Williamson?" my teacher called. I went in, and we began the lesson. "Now, Patricia, I believe you find reading hard? He asked in a soothing voice. "Yeah, I mean, all the letters and numbers just wiggle around, and it's really annoying!" I told him. "OK, today we're going to do some exercises which will determine the best way to teach you." He explained."OK." I simply said. "So, first of all, I'm going to give you five blocks, and I want you to put one on top of each other." He said. "Is that it?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes." He said calmly. Well, at least he didn't lose his patience as easily as my house mates. So, I started to build a tall tower of blocks, and noticed they weren't straight. "Um, sorry, I can build it again if you want?" I asked nervously."No, that's just fine, well done!" He praised me. Wow. I thought I did rubbish, but he was actually saying I did well! So, after another exercise of colouring in, I went outside to be greeted by Eddie. "So, how did it go?" He asked me. "Surprisingly well, actually!" I grinned.

"Well, let's go back then!" He shouted. He must've been really bored while I was in there. "As soon as I got back to the house I was bombarded with question like; "How did it go?", "Did you have fun?" and "Was the teacher cute?". To b honest, I was just happy to be back, and happy to know that I had improved. Next English lesson I went up to our teacher before the lesson started. "Hi, sir?" I asked shyly "Yes Ms Williamson?" He asked in his stern voice. "I know I completely messed up on The Hunger Games passage, and I was just wandering if I could try it again in class today?" I asked nervously.

"Of course you can!" He beamed. As I went through the passage in front of the class, I wasn't afraid anymore. I mean, yeah, I got some of the words wrong, but no-one laughed or anything, so that was a bonus. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm still the tough girl, but I have a soft side too.


End file.
